<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>who would inhabit this bleak world alone? by sunkelles</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29766897">who would inhabit this bleak world alone?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunkelles/pseuds/sunkelles'>sunkelles</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Grimm Character (RWBY), Grimm! Summer Rose, Mentioned Salem/Ozma, POV Second Person, POV Summer Rose, Summer Rose (RWBY) Lives</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 00:34:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>972</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29766897</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunkelles/pseuds/sunkelles</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Salem's newest creation wakes up alone in the middle of a Grimm pool. That's not where she stays.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Summer Rose &amp; Salem (RWBY)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>who would inhabit this bleak world alone?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>just a girl and her dog &lt;3</p>
<p>title taken from the last rose of summer by thomas moore because i'm cruel ;)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Warm liquid oozing, coiling, adhering to your skin. Your eyes open, for a moment taking in a warm red glow before the liquid starts to burn them and you shove them closed again. You realize, with a start, that you need to take a breath. </p>
<p>Fully submerged, you know that you can’t do that. You kick with legs that feel too long and fat, bat with arms that feel oblong and odd, shooting quickly through the thick, murky liquid to the red light at the top. </p>
<p>You feel the cool, clean air on your skin as your head peaks up from the liquid. You take in the view of a large, red pond of oozing, thick liquid with black, jagged rocks along the shore. A black castle of massive size and gothic style shoots up in the distance. A lone woman clad in black, with snow white hair and even whiter skin stands serenely on the rocks before the castle. For a moment, you think it better to swim the opposite way as she calls something deep and frightening within you. </p>
<p>Then, her red eyes lock on you like the red targeting mechanism of a gun, and you know if you swam the other way, she would find you. </p>
<p>And she would not be happy that you’d tried to run. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>You paddle towards the shore, each stroke feeling harder than the last. Your mouth ends up under the liquid as often as not, and you take in mouthful after mouthful of bitter tar- even as you try to cough it up. </p>
<p>After an arduous swim, you finally force yourself onto the beach. The woman looks down at you, with a look that’s almost proud. </p>
<p>“Help,” you croak out, voice layered and monstrous. She reaches down and grabs you, pulling with a strength that you don’t think she should possess. Then, you sit up, somehow already eye-level with her while sitting down. The woman smiles softly at you, eye to glowing red eye. </p>
<p>“It speaks,” she says, placing a soft hand on your face. Your fear dissipates with the touch and you nuzzle against her hand, reaching your own towards her. Black, shadowy tendrils stretch out in front of you with bone-white claws attached to the end. Your claws nuzzle out at her like a curious kitten. </p>
<p>You don’t think that’s what you looked like before. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I- what?” you ask, reaching your hand back to cradle it against your stark black chest, then running it up to the spikes peeking out of your shoulders. Your long legs stretch out so far that you can tell if you stood up, you would dwarf her. </p>
<p>“This isn’t right,” you say, voice echoing with multiple, discordant pitches- each sounding more like a scream. </p>
<p>“Of course it is,” she says, rubbing circles into the rough skin of your face, “I created you like this. It’s what you’re<em> supposed </em>to be.” She keeps rubbing circles with one hand and reaches the other over your head, right into the slot between your horns.</p>
<p>You feel her hand curl itself around the flesh there, firm and possessive. </p>
<p>You don’t remember anything before this, but the emptiness you feel- it feels like a gaping hole in your head. Not like there was never anything there, but as if it what was there was ripped out of you. The holes feel bloody and empty. </p>
<p>Her eyes as red as the pools that birthed you, soft as her touch on your skin. The black lines snake around her skin, dancing like the black smoke enveloping you. </p>
<p>“Do you really think I’d lie to you?” she asks, soft but defensive. Her grip tightens. You don’t want to feel how it would change if you disagreed. You shake your head no, and her smile turns into a smirk. </p>
<p>“My Ozma has brought me such a lovely monster, hasn’t he,” she coos. Something dark curls within you at the name, and you find yourself snarling. The sound echoes through the air, digging into your brain like claws. You clamp your mouth down, willing the sound to stop. </p>
<p>You look cautiously at the woman, expecting some sort of reprimand for the screech. Instead, she just laughs like the gentle chiming of a bell. She brings both hands to your cheeks, rubbing at them like a loving owner with a dog. </p>
<p>“What a good girl,” she coos, “my perfect attack dog." Then, the woman lets go of your face and gives you one last pat to the head.</p>
<p>"Just make sure not to tear him to bits," she orders, voice firm, "<em>He's</em> mine too.” You shudder, skin almost clanking against the alabaster parts of you. Luckily, she does not see your fear- or she does not care. Instead, she turns around and takes a step towards her castle. She takes another step. Then she stops. </p>
<p>“Come,” she orders, gesturing with her head, “I have plans for you, my rose of summer.” There’s a hint of humor in her voice as she says the phrase, but you don’t know why. You decide that it must be a name she planned for you long, long ago. Before she ever brought you into this world. </p>
<p>It seems better not to ask questions on these things. Your creator’s mood has changed so much in the few minutes you’ve been alive. Best not to rile her up. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>You take to your feet, falling over awkwardly on all fours. You had expected to walk on two legs instead of four. It only takes a moment to adjust, and then you only have to walk at a comfortable speed to follow a step behind your master. Whatever her plans for you, you will have to make sure to slot into them. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She created you, after all. She could just as easily snuff out your breath.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>summer rose? inside a grimm? it's more likely than you think</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>